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Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Clear Channel Communications is a Bully





Do you know what a Brony is?  There is a show called My Little Pony Friendship is Magic.  Millions of people watch this show that was designed for little girls.  The episodes each have a lesson of some sort and the Ponies generally get along great, as friends should do.
Many other people started tuning in to the show and liking it.  There is now a cult following of the show.  This following is mostly made up of older teenaged boys and young men in their early to mid-twenties.  There are also older men who love the show.  Many girls and women of all ages have found the show to be cute, sweet, and have a great message.
This fandom of the show calls themselves Bronies.  Bronies share stories and pictures online through countless forums and there is a great deal of music that is made to go along with fan fiction of the show.  Hasbro is great about supporting the Bronies.  There are conventions all over the world of Bronies.  This movement has added a great deal of money into the economy. People work extra hours or do extra jobs to get money to go to the conventions.
When a Brony convention comes to town, it brings a great deal of money.  Hundreds and sometimes thousands of Bronies flock to see their favorite voice actors and to celebrate the show.  Vendors provide toys and other memorabilia, and the local hotels, restaurants, gas stations, airlines and others all benefit from the event.
This year was the second annual Fiesta Equestria held at the Merriott Westchase in Houston.  The Bronies gathered, had concerts and celebrity panels, and got to meet and greet famous talent from around the world.  Last year, my son and two daughters attended.  This year my son is in Marine boot camp (and is in the medical recovery unit because of a reaction to vaccinations which caused pneumonia), but my two daughters went. They had a great time.
Fiesta Equestria is a place where people interact with one another and share good times.  Most people get along well.  There is a real sense of comradery.
It appears that there are some jerks out there that just cannot let people get together and have a good time.  Bronies are not picking on anyone.  Bronies are not bullies.  Bronies actually raise money for children’s cancer treatment via an auction at Fiesta Equestria.  Bronies are not wimps either.  Some Bronies are cops; some are firefighters.  Some have wives or husbands and children.  Some are children.
Many Bronies like to dress up like their favorite pony.  Some will work for months to put together the right cosplay outfit.  Some are very elaborate.  But, no one is hurting anyone by wearing a costume in a hotel where the convention is being held.
It seems that there are bullies in the world.  There is a radio talk show host named Micheal Berry at KTRH in Houston who has nothing better to do than be a bully and mock and make fun of Bronies.
The producer for Berry’s show went to Fiesta Equestria and interviewed people at Fiesta Equestria with the sole intent of mocking them and making fun of them, just like a bully back at school.  These thugs interviewed these people, took excerpts from the interviews, and played them in such a way that put them in an unfavorable light.
They interviewed a man who is very sweet and has autism.  They tried their best to put him in as bad a light as possible.  Why is it important to Berry and his four or five listeners to make fun of people who are not hurting anyone?
The producer interviewed a former Marine who (I believe I am right in saying) was shot in Afghanistan.  He was wounded while serving his country.  Berry stated that the man was “Kicked out of the Marines for undisclosed reasons”.  What type of journalism is this?
Berry went on to say that he will get a lot of anonymous comments from people who are too afraid to speak out otherwise.  Well, guess what?  I am not afraid to make a comment to you, Mr. Berry.  I say you are a bully and that you should not pick on people who are not able to defend themselves.  You hide behind your microphone and dish out sarcasm while attacking people who are not present to defend themselves. For some reason, Berry was not satisfied with picking on an Autistic man and an injured veteran; he also managed to malign people with Tourette’s syndrome.
After labeling all of the Bronies defective in some way or another, Mr. Berry went on to say this is the kind of people who voted for Obama.  How in the world does someone make that leap?  I sometimes watch My Little Pony (known sometimes as MLP).  I voted Republican for President in the last two elections.  My children, who are Bronies, also voted Republican in the last two elections, at least those who were old enough to vote in those elections.
It is sad that Berry will actually accomplish what he set out to do, which is to raise his listenership, at least temporarily.  Why?  Because Bronies all over the world will be tuning in to this little Podunk 50,000 watt station to see how mean Berry will get.
KTRH is owned by Clear Channel Communications, which owns several super stations like WSSL 100 in South Carolina and Sunny 99.1 in Houston.  You can find a list of those stations at www.clearchannel.com
If you are a listener of a Clear Channel station, why not call in and voice a complaint to them? Tell them one of their stations is acting like a bully and you do not like it.

Mr. Berry, it is no wonder you have to pick on Bronies.  I listened to the first segment of your show and all you had to talk about for that first segment was making a purchase out of out of a vending machine.  This is real journalism at its best.
By the way, you will notice I am not posting this anonymously. Rednecks like me are not afraid to face you, online, in person, on the phone, you name it.  Bullies like you only get their jollies by picking on those who cannot defend themselves.  I hope Clear Channel gets the message and sends you packing.

Advertisers, remember, we may be powerless against the stations, but we can withhold our purchases from you.
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2 comments:

  1. First of all welcome to the herd! Brohoof! /)

    I am the one who called in to the Michael Berry show to defend my friend's honor. My name on facebook is Wendy Domino. I posted up a list of his sponsors to the Houston Brony Group who has over 1000 members. We hammered away at his sponsors because we felt that he should not be allowed to get away with slandering our friend.

    On the broadcast on the 14th, Michael Berry erroneously introduced our friend, we'll call him T, as someone who had been "kicked out of the marines" for undisclosed reasons. This was false. T actually had two honorable discharges. T is an Iraq combat veteran. T was in the marines and has two honorable discharges, and was not "kicked out".

    I knew calling in was a trap, but I felt at least one person should walk into that trap if for nothing else, then to set Michael Berry's audience straight on that issue.

    The fandom thing is a side issue. I don't like it that he bashes people who are generally good people (we're not all greenie weenie college professors and media types and Obama voters. Bronies are all over the political spectrum, both conservative and liberal). I felt like Michael Berry also personally slandered me by accusing me of dishonoring marines when I called him out for slandering my friend's military service.

    I called his producer back not too long afterward and told him that his sponsors would hear about it as Michael Berry had refused to apologize. Predictably, I got laughed at.

    We continued to hammer away at his sponsors and only an hour later, Michael Berry had an apology squeezed out of him for his slander.

    I felt this was a victory.

    Not a complete victory, as he still was misrepresenting the brony fandom as something negative, but it was a victory as far as not allowing him to get away with slandering a combat veteran.

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    1. Thank you, Wendy. I appreciate you taking the time to comment on my post and for welcoming me to the herd.

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